Stardust fire inquest: Jury delivers verdict of unlawful killing

The blaze is considered the worst fire disaster in the history of the Irish state.

The bodies of some of the victims were found huddled around emergency exit doors which had been locked or had chains draped over them appearing to be locked.

Eamon Butterly, 78, the former manager of the Stardust told the inquest that he made the decision that the venue’s exit doors should be locked until as late as midnight, but it was the head doorman’s idea.

In his statement in October 1981, Mr Butterly said locking the doors had been “forced on me by the fact a large number of people were getting in for free due to the actions of their friends who were opening exit doors from the inside.”

In 1981, Mr Butterly told gardaí (Irish police) that a policy of draping chains over exit doors had only been in place for “three weeks”, but had told the then tribunal it had been in place for years.

Steel plates had also been welded to the toilet windows of the building.